I love apples.  I love walnuts.  I LOVE lentils.  So, it only makes sense that I thought this loaf was amazing.  Its completely vegan and packs some great nutritional punches – lentils, flax seeds, carrots, onions…  I almost completely pureed my vegetables and the result was a delicious creamy texture that practically melted in my mouth.  And double the sauce when you make this.  Its so good you’ll be glad you did!

Apple Walnut Lentil Loaf Muffins may not be pretty, but they have me looking forward to eating my lunch while I’m still eating breakfast. 

…..and just when you think your life cannot get any more boring (its Spring Break here and with no students I’m chained to my desk trying to get projects done), you get a great email and new hip bands and a new food blog to check out.  Do yourself a favor and check out http://www.nypartyofone.com……………………

Lentil Apple Walnut Loaf

adapted from Terry Walters’ Clean Food

Ingredients -

For the loaf

• 1 cup dried lentils (I used brown, though any type would work.)
• 3 cups vegetables stock (I used chicken stock)
• 1 thumb-size piece of kombu (I left this out…though I’m going to look for it the next time I’m in Whole Foods.)
• 3 tbsp ground flax seed (I used whole seeds, not ground)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 stalk celery, minced (I left this out)
• 2 tbsp mirin (Japanese cooking wine.  I used 2 tbsp white wine instead.)
• 1 apple, peeled, grated and mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 6-7 dashes ume plum vinegar (I don’t have this and was going to substitute  with balsamic vinegar, but I forgot.  So, mine had no vinegar in the actual loaf.)

For the glaze (The following is what the original recipe calls for, but I doubled it and was glad I did.)

• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp apple butter (I didn’t have any on hand so I used some strawberry-rhubarb jam with a consistency of apple butter…delicious!)
• 1 tbsp arrowroot (This is just Nature’s healthy version of cornstarch so feel free to use regular cornstarch instead.)

Directions -

For the lentils

1. Rinse lentils, place in rice cooker or pot and add stock and kombu.

2. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender.  Remove from heat, discard kombu and set aside.

For the loaf

1. In a small bowl, combine flax seed with water and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion, carrot and celery in olive oil for 2 minutes.  Add mirin and saute 3 minutes more.  Add grated apple, raisins and walnuts and saute another minute.  Add thyme, vinegar and pepper to taste.

4. Remove from heat and fold in cooked lentils, breadcrumbs and soaked flax seed until evenly distributed.  Press mixture firmly into lightly oiled loaf pan and set aside.  (I used a muffin tin instead.  I saw Kath do this by accident and loved the idea of individual servings.)

For the glaze

1. In a small saucepan over no heat, combine all glaze ingredients.  Place over medium heat and stir continuously until thick (about 2-3 minutes).  Spread evenly over loaf (or muffins) and bake, uncovered, 40 minutes (or ~ 30 minutes for muffins).  Remove from oven and serve.

PS….I made 14 muffins that came in at 200 calories each.